Week 8: This Is the End ... of Quicksand
What happened to Helga? Authorial intent and social commentary
“The children used her up.”1
We have now reached the end of our journey as readers of Quicksand. Helga has returned to Harlem, only to have a breakdown that results in her marriage to a Southern preacher. The novel ends with Helga about to give birth to her fifth child.
What Kind of “Happily Ever After” Is This?
As we discussed earlier in this course, critics were skeptical of Quicksand’s ending. How could someone like Helga Crane—very educated, well traveled, and highly critical of the perils of motherhood and religion—end up a preacher’s wife with multiple children, and back in the South of all places?
Your Prompt for Week 8
You were asked to read Chapters 17-25 Quicksand, review the feminist literary criticism from the Norton Critical Edition, and read about Marxist theories in Klages. Use these and any additional materials you may find to explore these questions. (And don’t forget to cite your sources! Substack has a very handy footnote tool just for that purpose.)
What were your reactions as a reader to the concluding chapters of Quicksand? What about as a literary scholar? Are the two similar, different, mixed?
We’ve now discussed or read about Quicksand using perspectives from feminist theory, critical race theory, queer theory, postcolonial theory, and Marxist theories. If you were to critically discuss Quicksand, which theory or theories would you lean toward, and why? Provide specific examples.
Let your writing and formatting reflect your personality and self presentation, but also make sure your readership can follow along. And once again, be sure to cite!
After you post, don’t forget to read your peers’ posts and comment on at least two of them during the week.
Nella Larsen, Quicksand, p. 102